Tips on Managing Poinsettia Crops

• Encourage maximum rooting by keeping the growing medium moist.  Don’t let it dry out.  It is especially important if the rooted cutting was in a foam material like old oasis cubes.  If the growing medium dries out, the roots will die off and it will take another two weeks for the new roots to initiate and that will delay pinching.
• Balanced nutrition is very critical when roots are fully developed.  It is important to understand that maximum vegetative growth should be the target at this time.  This is obtained by supplying at least 200 ppm of nitrogen along with calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, sulphur and all the trace elements.  Calcium nutrition is very important for proper bract development.  Ready made fertilizers generally don’t have enough calcium in them.  Check with the supplier as to calcium content.  Remember that poinsettias require higher molybdenum levels right from the start.
• Make the decision to hard pinch or soft pinch at this time based on the branching characteristics of varieties.  Enough information is provided by the supplier about this aspect of different varieties.
• Immediately after pinching, skip fertilizing for a couple of times so that the plant recovers from the shock.
• There are many growth regulators available in the market.  Make your choice based on your conditions and what you want to achieve.  Also growth regulators like Bonzi are needed in very small amounts.  So make sure your calculation is correct.  Over application can stunt the crop drastically and sometimes it becomes difficult to overcome that effect.
• Remember that poinsettias are light sensitive.  On September 22^nd the day and night durations will be the same, that is 12 hours each.  The plant starts turning towards generative direction.
• Pay attention to day and night temperatures.  For good rooting don’t go too low on night temperature.  If you need more information on temperature regime for poinsettias, let me know.
• Monitor the crop carefully for whiteflies and other insects.  It will be easier to control them at this stage rather than at bract development side.